Feminine looking women can't be scientists:

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I don't doubt that was true...when you were a secretary in the 60's.

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So your saying that training described happened in 1998?

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I have known a number of women to do it. I believe it is fairly common practice, and I am far from alone in this observation.
Here, for example, is an article about it by a girl:
https://www.vice.com/read/girl-news-why-girls-act-dumb
I am sure a quick search would reveal many more such articles.

I believe that many women downplay their intelligence to appear less threatening to men,
hoping therefore to avoid hostile treatment.
I work with computers and it is not uncommon for both men and women I meet to announce that they are not computer literate. I have noticed however that it often turns out that women making that announcement are actually more capable than they claim whereas if a man says it, it is more likely to be true. As you say, women often downplay their skills even in the work place.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I have known a number of women to do it. I believe it is fairly common practice, and I am far from alone in this observation.
Here, for example, is an article about it by a girl:
https://www.vice.com/read/girl-news-why-girls-act-dumb
I am sure a quick search would reveal many more such articles.

[b]I believe that many women downplay their intelligen ...[text shortened]... is more likely to be true. As you say, women often downplay their skills even in the work place.

I've never seen women purposely act less intelligent, though I've heard about it over and over. It's like when women faint in movies at shocking news; maybe it's happened somewhere at sometime, but I (and probably most people) have never actually seen that happen.

Maybe this is more common outside of the U.S., but intelligence in women has never been a negative thing (during my lifetime). Does the fact that I grew up in New York City make a difference? Or that I grew up around minorities rather than around whites?

I work with computers, and went to school for security technology before switching to web development. There may have been fewer females, but the women were not "quieter" or less vocal or active during class sessions.

Of course, it's a big world, so I'm not ruling out that this happens. But I've never seen it, nor have I encountered women who felt they needed to act dumb.

Originally posted by vivify
Maybe this is more common outside of the U.S.,

I see it a lot in US tv series and movies, so it clearly is not a 'not the US' phenomenon.

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It may be less common in the work place.

Why should *many* women pretend to be much less competent than they are in the workplace?
What could they hope to gain? Promotion or higher pay? Marrying the boss?
In my experience women in the work place are often less boastful about their capabilities. I have met many very capable women who at the same time profess to be not so capable. Women in the work place tend to be more modest than men.
I have met men that vastly over estimated their own capabilities. But self promotion works, as Trump has demonstrated. In fact, Trump vs Clinton is a good example of what I am talking about. It is rare to see a woman act the way Trump does, and for good reason: if Clinton acted like Trump she wouldn't never have got where she is.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I see it a lot in US tv series and movies, so it clearly is not a 'not the US' phenomenon.

If I concluded something about a country based on what I saw in movies and TV, what would your response to me be? Would it involve derision?

And can you give an example if a movie or TV show where a woman feels she must downplay her intelligence?

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1) Notice I said "in my lifetime". I was born in the eighties.

2) America has terrible ideals, and I have no interest in defending it. Do not interpret my post as pro-American.

Originally posted by vivify
If I concluded something about a country based on what I saw in movies and TV, what would your response to me be? Would it involve derision?

Seriously now, I am not saying that because it is in american tv then it is the norm. But, given that it is relatively common in US TV I think it is safe to say that it does exist in the US - which is what I am saying. I don't think they put it in because the director was foreign and thought he would introduce some ideas from other countries.

http://www.thefeministwire.com/2012/12/the-perpetual-dumb-girl/

The dumb girl trope is deeply ingrained in American culture and history.

....forty percent of college women admitted to doing this in a survey.